There are a number of machines that use teeth to impinge or disintegrate a piece of material and/or the earth strata. Examples of these machines include land clearing machines, tub grinders, force feed grinders, and stump grinding machines. As can be appreciated, these machines are used to cut or disintegrate wood and brush. Referring to the latter of the above-mentioned machines, i.e., stump grinding machines, these machines typically include a plurality of stump cutter teeth mounted to the circumference of a driven wheel. In a typical stump grinding operation, the stump grinding machine is positioned adjacent to the stump. The wheel then is rotated so as to drive the cutter teeth into the stump. After a plurality cuts (or passes) the end result is the disintegration of the stump to a predetermined depth below the surface of the ground.
It is very apparent that stump grinding places a tremendous amount of stress upon the stump cutter teeth, as well as upon the structure which supports each stump cutter tooth. The cutter teeth themselves must be strong and rugged so as to be able to withstand the stresses associated with the stump cutting operation. In addition, the holder assembly must also be also to withstand these same stresses and still hold the stump cutter tooth therein.
Earlier stump cutter assemblies are shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,005,622 to Beach et al. (assigned to Kennametal Inc., the assignee of the present patent application) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,314 to Puch.